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My Bill Murray Approach To Working In Retirement

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I decided a couple of years into my early retirement that Bill Murray has it figured out when it comes to working once you’ve made it. So I adopted a Bill Murray approach to working in retirement. I’m now headed towards 10 years of this early retirement adventure and it has served me well. As my email and telephone are getting more hits with opportunity pitches lately, it reminds me that I’m living the dream. Even though I am enthusiastically open to retirement work (retire early and often), I’ve earned the right to dictate the how, what, where, and with whom, if at all.

My Bill Murray Approach To Working In Retirement

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The Elements Of My Bill Murray Approach To Working In Retirement

Bill Murray is famously hard to reach. He bucks the entertainment system’s rules by refusing to have an agent. Instead he just has a toll free 1-800 number that goes directly to voicemail. Those who can get his number and call have 2 minutes to make their pitch. If he’s interested he will reply with a PO Box address to mail a script or other details to. Then you have to wait to hear back from him. There’s no schmoozing, stroking, or endless auditioning. No obligations, expectations, or pressures to jump into anything with anyone. He isn’t motivated by money and you never know if he’s in or out. That is until he lets you know one way or another. Nobody knows for sure whether he is retired or will ever retire which is also part of my working in retirement approach.

I’m kind of hard to find and reach

I haven’t had my resume posted online since late 2011, now over 7 years ago. I took it down when I decided that a Bill Murray approach to working in retirement was the way to go. Yet I still get opportunity pitches.

I stopped pursuing opportunities by way of an active online resume after I had gone through my opportunity bucket list of things that I wanted to learn and do. It’s now far more passive where I let recruiters find me through their contact referrals from past connections and my LinkedIn profile. I don’t famously have a 1-800# like Bill Murray. I’ve just kept the same landline phone number with an answering machine (so 1980s but great for screening calls) and the same email address for over 20 years. That means my old profile and resume contact info along with what ex-colleagues have is still valid. I actually scored my encore career by way of an unsolicited LinkedIn contact.

I still get a lot of pitches. Aside from my LinkedIn profile, they’re most likely from my resume having been picked up and stored in various employment databases during its short online visibility. That and from any of my conversations with recruiters long ago. Others are direct referrals and recommendations from ex-colleagues who pass on my name and contact info. I feel that by the time I’m contacted, I’ve been seen as a likely match for what the recruiter has to fill. It doesn’t bother me that some most likely have gone through all the easy low hanging fruit of active job searchers. If so, they’re now more likely willing to negotiate terms, not dictate them.

Good story and pitch – Clearing my first level working in retirement screening

They make their limited pitch and if they get my attention I may contact them. There has to be none of the triggers that turn me off and must have something there that makes me want to find out more about the opportunity. Otherwise it is ignored, unless it’s from someone I liked working with before. Then I will reply with a “no thank you at this time”.   

Peaked interest reply – Clearing my second level working in retirement screening

Many times there isn’t enough information shared in the pitch that’s aligned with what I consider interesting enough to engage. But if there is, I reply. I will ask for key missing details like what company, the location, the opportunity’s work scope, etc. Oh yes, the scope, exactly what it is they are looking for. I admit that I have boundary issues. They challenge today’s corporate world and limit what opportunities I will entertain.

They have to pass my what you see is what you get test – Clearing my third level working in retirement screening

Getting to this point means a lot had to be right to engage and accept interviewing. When I interview I offer no pretense or fluffery. Nor do I feel like I have to defend my employment gaps when asked. I refuse to let those gaps be represented as anything negative. Even though I am only at this interview stage because I am truly interested, I just deliver brutal honesty about what I know, did, and do. In my case I leave out any skills that I wish not to do anymore. I will also honestly tell them why I’m interested in the opportunity. All cards on the table. I don’t want to go into something where there is any misunderstanding nor put myself in a position I will regret.

If they balk or flinch then they failed the test. I enter into this phase knowing that even if everything goes well at this step, it doesn’t mean I will get an offer, nor that I will accept one. I’ve found it interesting that this step is often where I discover folks were misleading in regards to the scope breadth and therefore misrepresenting the opportunity, wasting both of our times.

Would I agree to do this if money was deemphasized? Clearing my fourth level working in retirement screening

Funny thing about financial independence and early retirement (FIRE), our relationship with money changes. What the opportunity pays does play a role, but it’s not an important part of the consideration to accept an offer. I ask myself if money was removed from the equation, would I do it for the fun, adventure, education, interesting project, or desired experience? There will need to be a yes somewhere in the answer. I can fake-it for money anywhere at anytime but don’t need to.

Trading my time for money isn’t a valid reason to accept a wrong opportunity that’s misaligned with what I want in life now. Our time is finite and I wish to not waste it. If I clear this final working in retirement screening step then I feel going in that it is as perfect of a fit as there can be. There should be no reason for regrets or misunderstandings with the employer/client or myself.

Missed opportunities? Sure, but so what…

My Bill Murray approach means I don’t get as many opportunities floated by me. But it also means I’m not wasting my time looking at every fart in the recruitment frying pan. A place where openings are shotgunned out to active online resumes whether they’re a decent fit or not. I prefer to let them find me in a limited fashion. Even then, very few pass the first 2 parts of my working in retirement screening.

I do believe there have been missed opportunities that would have been good fits. Even Bill Murray missed out on some awesome movie roles. That’s just the price of taking a picky approach to paid work and the projects, people, locations, companies, etc. to associate with. For myself, I see it as part of taking control of my time and life while at the same time limiting the amount of BS in it.  

Alright, what I do isn’t exactly what or how Bill Murray does it.

I’m no Bill Murray, not even close in talent, wealth, whit, or anything else. But his approach towards work inspired me to create my own limited contact and availability approach to working in retirement.

I did post my resume on job search portals after some months of celebrating my first early retirement. Sometimes I even proactively applied for online posted positions. I targeted opportunities that I had an interest and passion to pursue. It was 2010 and the employment situation was far different than it is today. Even as bad as the employment conditions were back then it worked for me. Those efforts continue to send working opportunities my way today, but….

Much of this is due to what I did in my previous life, Tech. It’s a certain kind of world. I’m sure there is a reason for how this works out as it does. There’s probably other career paths that work the same way.

My Bill Murray inspired approach does not just rely on recruiters finding me. If I was seriously interested in pursuing a new working adventure or project that I found out about, I would proactively reach out with my own efforts.

 

FIRE allows us to have a different mindset when it comes to paid work

After decades of our being conditioned to accept obligated labor to survive and be a productive member of society, FIRE allows us to flip the story. We get to exit that storyline and have the freedom to either participate in opportunities of choice or sit it out until the perfect storyline is presented. When we are in the story, we can be totally in the moment. We can then be a rewarded asset while at the same time enjoying what we are doing. If an accepted storyline takes an unfavorable turn then we can quickly exit on our terms. For me it starts with controlling how I make myself available to an employment world that believes it has all the power. FIRE allows me the freedom to happily challenge that belief.

Writing In Retirement: How To Prepare For Success

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Writing In Retirement: How To Prepare For Success

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Retiring early and living a passion-driven lifestyle is everyone’s dream, isn’t it?

And the wonderful thing is, it’s not an unachievable goal either. It’s possible to gear yourself up for early retirement by thinking creatively, living frugally, and coming up with a solid pension plan.

 

There are also some solid options available for making money post-retirement too — such as writing. If you’re relatively creative and enjoy writing — whatever the subject — then you may have just found a fun way to keep yourself occupied at home while generating a bit of income.

 

In this post, we’ll be covering writing in retirement, and how you can prepare to ensure some level of success. Read on to find out more.

Start with a blog

Starting your own blog is one of the easiest ways you can experiment with your writing style and your topics. If you really enjoy writing, you might want to go onto something else after.

 

Creating a blog might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be at all. These days, there are all sorts of “drag and drop” website builders that will let you create a blog easily without the need for any in-depth knowledge of website-building or coding. Plus, there’s plenty of help available online in the form of guides and public forums.

 

So what are you going to base your blog on? The topic is up to you, but it’s normally a good idea to stick to something that you know plenty about. This could be food, traveling, the industry you spent your career working in, or maybe a hobby that you’ve dedicated lots of time to.

 

Once you’ve decided on your blog’s topic, you need to think about your written content. It’s not enough to write well; your blog posts need to be interesting and valuable to your audience. You need to reel in readers with catchy post titles and then keep them engaged with relevant, entertaining content.

 

You’ll also need to write frequently; this will draw more readers to your blog and create a larger audience. Luckily you’re retired, so at least you’ve got a bit of time to spend on this!

Write articles for local newspapers

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys collaborating with a team, working to deadlines and meeting new people, why don’t you start writing articles for local newspapers?

 

You may have to pitch some of your own ideas and writing skills to the editor to prove that you’ve got something to offer, but it’s a good way to get involved in something you’re passionate about.

 

You may find that you have to write for free (at least initially) but conversely, you may get paid per article you write, depending on the publication.

 

Writing for a local newspaper (either digital or printed) also gives you exposure to a wider audience and might even generate some new job opportunities for you. Plus, it’s a nice way to get out of the house and meet new people for the pieces you’re writing.

Self-publish a book on Amazon

You’re retired — now is the time to pen that novel that you’ve always wanted to write!

 

You might find writing a book intimidating initially, but it’s not the biggest leap to make if you’ve been keeping a blog or writing for a local newspaper.

 

Writing your own book and self-publishing is a good way to generate some retirement funds that keep on appearing long after you’ve written the book as people continue to buy it. But how do you publish your book once you’ve written it?

 

Enter Amazon self-publishing.

 

With the creation of Amazon Kindle publishing (KDP), publishing your novel no longer means having to send off hundreds of letters to publishing houses and receiving the same amount of rejection letters back. Self-publishing on Amazon is now easier than ever (though still a bit scary of course!) and far-reaching too — by using Amazon KDP, your work could reach a global audience.  

 

Whether it’s a fictional novel, short story, educational resource or how-to guide, writing a book is similar to writing a blog. Find a topic that you’re interested in and can write confidently on.

 

The audience you’ve gathered and the reputation you’ve built upon your blog will also stand you in good stead when you’re promoting and publishing your book. Your readership will help to support and promote your new venture, as well as purchase your novel based on your previous writing. It’s always good to have a team behind you.

Create a course

You’ve probably gathered a wealth of knowledge and experience in your specialist subject over the years. It seems like a shame to just shove all of that information into a mental compartment and lock it shut once you’ve retired.

 

If you fancy passing on your wisdom and learning to the next generation, then you should consider writing your own online course.

 

The course you create depends, of course, on where your knowledge lies. You could write a course on how to be successful in the industry you worked your way up. Or you could create a series of tutorials for more practical application, like DIY fixes. Maybe you’re a history buff — do a fun mini history course based on different periods. Get creative, and get personal — base the course on your unique skills and knowledge.

 

Once you have picked your topic, you can use an online course platform to build and launch your course. From there, you can promote the course, start charging students and making a nice little post-retirement bonus.

 

These are just some of the things you could do to write successfully in your retirement.

 

Writing in retirement can be a great way to give yourself purpose and add value to your post-work life. It also gives you the chance to share your knowledge and passion with others, express yourself, and make some money.

 

Follow these tips to start your journey to writing in retirement today.

This informative post was contributed to Leisure Freak by author Kayleigh Alexandra.

Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter- getmicrostarted.

 

The Retirement Crisis I’m Not Worrying About

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It’s a wonderful time for early retirees like myself. Those of us who believe that retirement isn’t the absence of working but the absence of needing to work should see even more attractive opportunities. Even though there is plenty of talk about a retirement crisis of financially unprepared retirees, the boomers are still retiring at a pace of 10,000 a day. That’s 10,000 every day! On top of that, the latest national unemployment rate just came in at 3.9% and there is a growing business gripe that they are having trouble finding qualified employees.

With the high number of boomer retirements, one can only logically see a different retirement crisis brewing. One where boomer retirements is going to be an increasing negative impact on employment numbers. That is certainly one retirement crisis I’m not worrying too much about. In fact, it may eventually make it even easier for people who are prepared financially to retire early and often.

 

The Retirement Crisis I'm Not Worrying About

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Seeing This Employment Retirement Crisis As An Advantage

I’ve had some great retirement gigs and even a sweet encore career. I took things as far as I wanted and then retired again. I haven’t been tempted to accept another opportunity for the simple reason that I now value time more than money. Most opportunities like I would be attracted to still insists on cheeks-in-seats 40 hours a week. But things will have to change to meet the hiring demands of business. Here’s what I think may be coming –

More Flexibility –

Some companies are already offering remote-report opportunities. But I think this will expand. Right now everything I have seen or been approached with still want a full-time commitment. That just isn’t aligned with what I value now. What would really draw me back is part-time or flex-time opportunities.

Consulting Expansion –

My encore career was working through a consulting company. I’m looking forward to seeing more short-term opportunities. Single project types where even though it requires 40 hours a week it would only be for a short period of time. Even part-time consulting opportunities may become more common.

Entrepreneurial Opportunities –

Starting my own specialized business to fill other companies needs may be easier to land steady client work. This is something I would be attracted to since I could better define my work offering.

Downsized Opportunities –

As others get promoted to fill more senior level positions because of retirements, there may be many lower level openings perfect for early retirees. Especially if offered with flexibility, open to consultants, or to entrepreneurs.

 

At some point business will realize that offering slight salary increases and tossing some benefits here and there won’t be enough to meet their needs. Although I haven’t personally seen evidence that business is ready to open up their employment alternatives to be more friendly to picky early retired folks like me, I believe it’s only a matter of time. The old employment model of their way or the highway isn’t going to fill job openings in the near future with ever dwindling available workers. And if my logical assumptions of transformed work opportunities never comes to pass, then great. I will happily stay retired and smirk when I hear or read about business complaints of not being able to find qualified employees.

It’s OK To Have Dark Early Retirement Motivation

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Early retirement is something that doesn’t need much promotion. Thinking about having the time to pursue whatever it is we want to do is extremely motivating and positive. It can push us to do everything it takes to get there. Most early retirement stories and articles concentrate on the absolute rainbows and unicorns of early retirement life and why we should shoot for it. That is if we heed the warnings and do it right. Happy thoughts and outcomes, that’s what people want to see. But let’s not kid ourselves. That isn’t our only motivation to ditch the rat race. For many, they also have some dark early retirement motivation that equally pushes them to achieve their financial goals. And on our last day on the job we truly understand the meaning to the saying, success is the best revenge.

It’s OK To Have Dark Early Retirement Motivation

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Bringing Dark Early Retirement Motivation Into The Light

After almost 9 years of early retirement under my belt I now feel ready to reveal the obvious.  Not everything about my early retirement desires were about freedom and pursuing passions. Wow! That is so liberating to no longer keep secret. I know I am breaking from early retirement article rules of keeping things cheery and positive or “how to”, “how I did it”, types of advice. But I just can’t keep quiet about it anymore. If I spell it out maybe others who silently suffer with dark early retirement motivation can stop wondering if they are alone or normal.

When Powerless You Can’t Openly Block The Backhand Of Dark Authority, You Make Bricks

I had many great experiences and good runs of decent and competent superiors and peers. But I also had a lot of, way too much of, dark early retirement motivation. If my long career experience in the corporate world was overall fair and rewarding I certainly wouldn’t have considered retiring early. There are very few people who love what they do and where they do it their entire working lives. Few have the privilege of working in an environment of true corporate nirvana where everyone is treated fairly and with respect. At least I have been told that such places exists. But from my experience that wasn’t the reasons people generally loved their corporate life for the long-term. Some lived a charmed existence through connections or power. While others were happy to drink the kool-aid or ignore their plight as unchangeable, expected, and accepted.

I wasn’t any of the above. I had no connections, was considered unprotected, and completely competent at my job. The perfect target for lazy and sometimes incompetent, power-drunk, self-serving managers in a fast-paced technical environment. Throw in a few backstabbing ladder climbing peers and you have numerous opportunities to encounter the darkness of corporate life.

I saw what happened when someone in my same employment class attempted to openly challenge their unfair situation. It never went well. It’s always best to diplomatically handle oppressive or unfair treatment, or at least try to. Sometimes it will work, but much of the time it won’t. And when it didn’t work, it built a foundation of dark early retirement motivation, brick by brick.

Turning The Dark Into Something Positive

When in dark work related situations you either whither, win or lose resisting it, or somehow subversively turn it to your advantage. I watched others lose-it and challenged corrupt or incompetent authority and lost, then paying the ultimate price or just walked off with no clear plan forward. I instead resolved to put my darkness inspired feelings towards what I really wanted- My eventual early retirement freedom.

There is no question that earning income must be sustained to save enough to retire early. I learned to control emotion to outlast and maneuver through or around any dark bullying idiots in power or their sycophants. Being in a position that had executive exposure where some were as “Dick” as they come, proven later with felony convictions, I experienced a couple of close calls when someone, anyone “unprotected” had to pay for another’s blunder.

The dark certainly triggered my freedom journey. It ran beneath the surface of all the great and happy motivations for early retirement. Knowing what I hoped to never continue living with, helped define what I wanted in early retirement. Reaching the point where I could retire gave me personal power. When there is no longer a financial or career threat that can be leveraged against me, I then could turn the tables on the power dynamics in a world that has no shortage of bullying self-serving authority figures and their merry bands of rectal fingerlings to do their dirty work.

Using The Dark Experiences For A Better Early Retirement

I used my experience of the dark in the corporate world to not only help motivate me to retire early but also create what I wanted to retire to. I feel retirement is defined as the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working and I have been able to successfully live it.

Since my first retirement I have experienced some great retirement gigs and a super rewarding encore career. Not that there wasn’t any of the same dark bullying BS going on around me. It’s just when you are doing something because you want to, not need to, they have no power over you. I could successfully decline indecent and unfair demands, deploy being rationally unreasonable in setting my work terms, or just walk away. I learned what I wanted to learn and did what I wanted to try doing. They paid me for my work and it was a win-win relationship. Right up until the moment I decided I was done and retired again.

Having now finished my bucket list of opportunities that I wanted to explore, I am perfectly happy being away from paid work. Especially staying clear of the corporate world. That is until something interesting comes along. I’m always open to opportunities. For me, that’s the way to retire early where only the light, unicorns, and rainbows are welcome.

A Toast To Dark Early Retirement Motivation

Here’s to all the dark I experienced and saw during the 31 years of my first career. It helped motivate me to be an early retirement success- The bullying, manipulation, lies, backstabbing, politics, theft, deception, threats, scapegoating, nepotism, favoritism, cover ups, and even sexual harassment (holy crap she was the worst). I say thank you for providing me all the necessary dark early retirement motivation that I ever needed.   

Finally to the darkest of my past corporate experiences that motivated me to do everything that was necessary to retire as early as possible. Here’s to my team members Don and Jim with whom I shared time in the trenches with. Both kind, dedicated, and competent at what they did. Two decent human beings who after decades of service were corporate downsized before they were ready to retire and ended up taking their own lives. R.I.P., you are not forgotten.

The Part-Time Jobs All Retirees Should Consider

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The Life Insurance and Market Research Association reports that 51% of the population retire between the ages of 61 and 65. Experts state that in order to enjoy your retirement, you should have $1.5 million in savings before you leave the workforce. Yet, individuals aged between 55 and 64, typically have just $120,000 squirreled away. Therefore, in order to pursue your early retirement dream, finding an enjoyable part-time job to keep your finances above board is the way to go.

The Part-Time Jobs All Retirees Should Consider

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3 Part-Time Jobs All Retirees Should Consider

Pet sitting

For retirees who love animals, becoming a pet sitter could be the perfect part-time job. The job isn’t too strenuous and you’ll get satisfaction from looking after various furry creatures. According to one survey, 40 million American pet owners opt to holiday at home each year rather than abroad due to inadequate pet care options. With 88% of owners stating their pet is happiest at home, your role as pet sitter will involve you regularly visiting the pet in their own home, providing fresh food and water, exercise where appropriate and of course some love and affection.

Cash in at Christmas

Many retirees don’t want a year-round job as it can hinder their retirement plans. If this sounds like you, then taking on a part-time role over Christmas could be the perfect compromise. Companies of all sizes hire thousands of extra staff over the holiday season, with the likes of UPS taking on 95,000 in the lead up to the big day last year. Other options include writing and sending Christmas cards for individuals who are too busy to take on the task themselves, working in a Santa’s grotto as an elf or even the big man himself. Retail jobs are also plentiful at this time year or you could work on a market stall selling your own festive goods.

Become a driver

If it is more regular work you’re after then becoming a driver could be just the job for you. By opting to buy your own van or minibus, you could help people move home or ferry people around to events. However, when you do set up your own business, it’s essential you take out the appropriate vehicle cover, including insurance. Alternatively, you could become a delivery driver for one of the country’s takeaway restaurants. As Statista reports that 10% of Americans use these delivery services once a week and with Cowen predicting that the delivery market will jump by 79% within the next four years, you’ll find there are plenty of places willing to hire a retiree for the role.

 

With millions of individuals retiring early, many don’t have the financial backing to support them through their retirement years. Therefore, taking on a part-time job is the perfect solution. Thankfully, there are a variety of jobs out there which will suit your new lifestyle, so ensure you consider all options before adopting a new role.

Why Your Greatest Business Competition is Your Grandpa

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Seasoned entrepreneur: an entrepreneur aged 55+. Also known as the self-owned business professionals giving young entrepreneurs and established corporations a run for their money.

Despite common held beliefs to the contrary, retirees and those nearing traditional retirement age can have a significant advantage when beginning their own business. They have a stable base to launch successful ventures that provide satisfaction and a lasting legacy, and their numbers are increasing. Why?

Seasoned entrepreneurs have the knowledge

The fresh-from-university whippersnappers may have fresh ideas and what they need on paper to get started but they don’t have decades of practical experience. Unfortunately, young workers with degrees are sometimes favored for promotions and make mistakes the experienced workers wouldn’t have made. The business suffers and the older employees suffer. For this reason, many nearing retirement age start smarter, more streamlined competing businesses.

Seasoned entrepreneurs aren’t agonizing over the old sole proprietorship vs. LLC debate. They aren’t wondering how to handle their taxes. They’re not looking for mentors and wondering “who they are.”  They know this stuff, and they’re ready to put that knowledge to use.

Plus, the explosion of administrative technologies has given hesitant seasoned entrepreneurs unprecedented opportunities to run successful businesses without fear of day-to-day business tasks. Services like cloud-based organizational apps connecting smart devices, email services to automatically interact with customers, and cloud accounting software simplifies tracking your finances and business health. And the best part? Most of this software is free.

Seasoned entrepreneurs have a network

Seasoned owners have an established sales channel. It’s impossible to walk away from 20+ years in an industry without having accumulated a vast network of connections: suppliers, manufacturers, storefronts, etc. Most of these working relationships are also friendships, and the network wants to see the seasoned entrepreneurs succeed. It sure beats the cold-calling of young entrepreneurs.

Seasoned entrepreneurs have funding

The median retirement income for retirees age 55-64 in the U.S. was $62,802 in 2016, $47,432 for ages 65-74, and $30,635 for ages 75+.

To seasoned entrepreneurs who have eliminated debt and planned wisely for retirement, that income looks like more than white sand beaches–it looks like venture funding. Beginning a business or purchasing a franchise multiplies retirement income, providing more financial freedom and a legacy business to the seasoned entrepreneur’s family.

Seasoned entrepreneurs have time

Young entrepreneurs and workers have young families and college contending with their work time. Many people nearing 55+ are empty-nesters or have teenagers capable of seeing to their own needs. Depending on their choice of entrepreneurship, seasoned entrepreneurs can transition their current employment hours into their own business hours, or less.

Retirees face decades of free time. A part-time business, freelancing or consulting service, or a business run by a manager allow time for hobbies and travelling. Seasoned entrepreneurs don’t have to give up their retirement fantasies to start a business–they incorporate it instead.

Seasoned entrepreneurs have a long runway

Many “young” older workers still have decades more to give to their field or to try something new. Advances in medicine extending quality of life provide optimism and a winning attitude to retirees. Corporations using many technically legal tactics to force “young” older workers to retire can expect to hear more “I quit” speeches and see their underestimated employees launch competing businesses.

Seasoned entrepreneurs aren’t ready for quiet years of bird-watching and want to avoid the dangers of sedentary retirement. This attitude along with the other advantages of experience, time, funding, and helpful technologies are ushering entrepreneurships into a new era: your greatest competition are your wise mentors.

 

This informative article was contributed to Leisure Freak by Jaren Nichols.

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Seasoned entrepreneurs-Why Your Greatest Business Competition is Your GrandpaJaren Nichols is Chief Operating Officer at ZipBooks. Jaren was previously a Product Manager at Google and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

6 Intriguing Home-Based Business Ideas For Retirees

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Home-Based Business Ideas For Retirees

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Retiring doesn’t have to mean you stop working if you don’t want to. Keeping busy and challenging yourself is a great way to stay active, both mentally and physically. In fact, retiring is the perfect time to start a passion project, creating a business just because you want to do it — not because you have to. Here are some great ideas for you to start your own business, right in your very own home.

Get writing

A lot of budding writers say their least plentiful but most valuable resource is time. There’s just not enough hours in the day to work fulltime and write as well! But now you’re retired, you’ve got an abundance of time, and these days there are plenty of ways you can make money from writing.

For a start, you could start blogging. Writing regularly about something that interests you can be a great way to build up followers online who share your interest. Once you’ve amassed a following, you could place PPC, CPA or CPM ads to earn a little money on the side.

Or you could host sponsored content on your site from businesses related to your blog, charging a little each time. There’s lots of ways to make money blogging, so do a little research and see what’s on offer.

On the other side of blogging, there is the ever growing self-publishing and copy-editing industry. With a huge need for high-quality online content, you can help businesses with their content, or fulfil your dreams of becoming an author. The best self-published books tend to be in a popular sub-genre, don’t cost a lot of money, and come as a series. To establish yourself as a copy-editor, put some listings up on freelance sites, and collect client testimonials and ratings.

 

Start your own radio station

If you’re passionate about something but you don’t have the chops required to write regularly about it, why not start your own radio station? With the rise of the internet, you don’t need to have an aerial and sophisticated recording equipment anymore. Instead, all you basically need are an internet connection and a microphone!

There are plenty of affordable radio hosting services online that make it quick and easy to start broadcasting. Once you’ve gotten your name out there and built up a good listenership, you can start offering ad space to businesses from your field of interest.

Similarly, podcasting hosting is something that more and more people are embracing. It’s a pretty low-cost business idea, and if you can find a good topic to podcast about, it’s one that is likely to take off pretty quick as the popularity of podcasts continues to grow.

 

Become a professional coach

Throughout your career, you’ve probably accumulated a wealth of knowledge, skills, and wisdom. A lifetime of learning (and making a few mistakes along the way of course!) has given you a deep well of experience. But just because you’ve retired doesn’t mean it ends there. Why not share it with others and become a professional coach?

There are plenty of people out there who want to learn from you, to get firsthand advice that will help guide them in their career. Maybe you managed a successful business before you retired — that will have given you exactly the kind of hard-earned knowledge that young entrepreneurs could benefit from. Create an online profile that showcases your work history and start networking. You’ll find scores of people willing to learn from you!

 

Become a tutor

Instead of passing on your knowledge to people in the workplace, why not pass it onto people in school as well? Parents want their kids to do the best they can, and will happily pay for someone to give them extracurricular lessons outside of normal school hours if it gets them ahead.

You don’t necessarily need to have any qualifications to do this, you just need to be knowledgeable about something. It could be a hobby like playing an instrument or a sport, or you might have a passion for maths or history that you’ve nurtured over the years. Pass on your knowledge and passion to the next generation and help them grow because of it.

 

Start a second-hand store

After a lifetime of working hard and raising a family, you’ve no doubt accrued a trove of bits and bobs. Record players, furniture, collectibles, clothes — the ephemera of life can build up very quickly without you even realizing it. It might be tempting to just take them all down to the junkyard and get rid of them, but as the old saying goes: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So why not sell them online?

Now you’ve retired, you’ve got plenty of time to start going through your old things and finding what can be reused. Even if it’s broken, you might find it a nice little side project to fix it up too. Digital marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are easy to use, and with the entire internet at your fingertips, you’re bound to find someone willing to buy what you’re selling.

 

Turn your hobby into a business

Most of you reading this will have a hobby of some kind: gardening, playing an instrument, baking, photography, model-making, the list is endless. While it might have kept you busy in your leisure time before retiring, and even provided some comfort to you when you needed a distraction, you might never have imagined it could provide you with an income.

However, retirement is the perfect time to start making money out of that thing you enjoy doing most. For example, if you enjoy gardening, you could offer your services out to others, of course. Or you could create an ebook or video tutorials on gardening to share your knowledge with others. Almost every hobby can be monetized, you just need to find the right angle….

 

For some, retirement might be the perfect time to put your feet up and have a well-earned rest. But for others, it might be an even better time to really get busy. With so many business ideas out there that you can start today from your own home, why sit around twiddling your thumbs? Get thinking and start your business today!

**If you want to see more on starting a home business, check this out- How to Set Up a Small Business at Home. 

This is another informative post contributed to Leisure Freak by author Kayleigh Alexandra.

Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter- getmicrostarted.

Pension Eligible And Still Working? Maybe You Shouldn’t

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If you’re fortunate enough to be working somewhere that offers or offered pension benefits then congratulations are in order. Very few in today’s world have that level of retirement benefit anymore. But once you are pension eligible, is staying on the job to work longer instead of retiring the best way to go? Many times the answer is NO.

Pension Eligible And Still Working? Maybe You Shouldn’t

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Things To Consider Once Becoming Pension Eligible

Whether you have a defined contribution plan or a defined benefit plan, it will represent a big part of your retirement funding. Those who have enough in pension and retirement savings to retire usually do retire. But if you don’t and have decided to stay working, wouldn’t you want to maximize your pension benefit and future retirement funding?

Post Pension Eligibility Growth

You may be surprised at how little your pension benefit grows going forward. Once you’ve reached your pension eligibility milestone and get the big bounce, the additional years of service may offer very little if any growth. The first step is checking with your company’s pension administrator or HR benefits representative to find out what your pension estimate is. Then find out how much it increases if you stay on the job.

For instance, where I worked, you were fully pension eligible with 30 years of service regardless of your age. If that happened before reaching age 55, then your pension would grow 3% a year until age 55. But after that it was based only on salary increases and your highest consecutive 5 year salary averages. It took big raises to move that needle.

Frozen And Going Nowhere Fast

For many, this little retirement benefit investigation starts right away with bad news. You’re reminded that your pension was frozen by your employer. Meaning that it won’t grow at all or may grow far-far less than their pre-freeze pension rules over the time we stay. That pension benefit then becomes negatively affected by inflation before we even collect a single penny.

 

Got Retirement Benefits? Don’t let them sit, let them rip!

Once we reach pension eligibility, whether it is frozen or not, decide if the rate of growth is too little to make it worth staying. The pension benefit growth rate is nothing we have control over. Why not pull it out and put our retirement benefit to work for us? Maybe pulling your cookies out of their cookie jar and rolling them into your own IRA cookie jar to control investment direction or beginning your pension annuity payment now is the better retirement strategy. Don’t underestimate the power of working and collecting a pension check to invest or a lump sum to rollover to supercharge your retirement savings. If you are going to work anyway, this strategy of changing the scenery is all about giving yourself the chance to grow your retirement portfolio.

 

Why Are You Still Working There Instead Of Taking Your Pension And Running?

Need To Work Longer

There are many reasons why someone who has a pension benefit needs to work longer. From simply wanting to still work to needing more time to meet retirement financial targets. But nothing says you have to stay at your same job and company to meet your goals. This is a great time to pursue opportunities in the same industry with a different company or go in a new direction and do something completely different. The best time to find a great job is when you have one. Consider looking and applying for outside opportunities while on your job. See what’s available, choose the perfect position, and understand your options. Then once hired, announce your retirement and apply for your pension and other retirement benefits.

Love What You Do

Perhaps you stay because you love what you are doing. Do you think that you would love doing it just as much somewhere else? Especially when knowing that you have taken control of your locked up pension and have the chance to better grow your retirement portfolio?

Coworker Friends

Is a big reason you are there due to friends you have on the job? Nothing says you can’t stay in contact. In fact, your being at a different company will add a whole new dimension to your conversations. Taking your pension and running will also allow you to easily expand your social circle and professional network.

Comfortable

It can be very comfortable working a job you know from end to end. But be honest with yourself. Do you sometimes feel like you are stagnate? Starting a new job will be exciting and carry a bunch of optimism about your future. True, it will also bring some discomfort from temporary stress until you learn the ropes. The key word here is temporary. A little stress early on and before you know it your comfort will return. Start thinking about the possibility of personal growth through a new job.

Lucky Are The Few With Retirement Health Insurance Benefits

If you have retirement health benefits, you are open to look for a lot more opportunities since health care won’t be a target factor. If the position offers employee health insurance benefits, you can explain that you have coverage. Then try to negotiate your salary up because you won’t need theirs. Being able to accept any position whether they have health insurance benefits or not is a huge advantage. Obviously if you don’t have retirement health benefits, limit your opportunity search to companies that offer employee health coverage. If starting your own business, expanding an existing side hustle, or choosing an opportunity without benefits, check for all available health insurance options. Consider the cost of health care in your decision.

Pension Eligible – Should you stay or should you go?

There’s nothing wrong with being pension eligible and still working for your same company. But maybe you should really consider taking your retirement strategy to the next level by retiring and moving on. This strategy isn’t theory. I was in a pension plan that kept changing the rules, converted many employees from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan, denied others completely, and then finally froze it. I retired a young 51 and have enjoyed and benefited from my retirement gigs and a short but sweet encore career. While I was doing that, I used what pension cookies were left to me to grow in my cookie jar and executed a strategy to increase my net worth.

If you are pension eligible where you work, take a step back from the same-old same-old and see if you could be doing something better for your eventual retirement. Then do some research and check available opportunities. If you need it, even if for nothing more than a confidence boost, consult with a CFP for some financial advice. Even if you decide to stay after doing all of that, then you will at least have the knowledge about your pension going forward. That way you can proactively close any discovered pension growth deficiency by setting aside additional savings on your end.

Making Money For The Future By Starting Your Own Business

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When it comes to making more money, especially for your future and retirement life, it is often said that you can do more by starting your very own business at home. You may have an idea that has been festering for while, or it could be that you have skills that you know could earn you more if your set up on your own. But it can be difficult to find the confidence to take that step and actually how you even go about it. I thought I would share with you some of the top tips that could help you get started.

Create a business plan

 

One of the first things to consider would be to create a business plan. This can be a great way to ensure you know what direction you want to take with your business. It can also help you to identify if you need funding, and how much it might take to get your business off the ground. When it comes to a home business, there should be limited set up costs, depending on what the business is, but you may still need to include investment and funding options. This is when websites like https://smallbusinessloans.co/small-business-funding/ could help you out.  The plan itself could be more focused around your actual business idea and the route to market you might want to take as well, so that you cover all bases of what you are going to do with your business. Not only is having a written business plan essential for any funding needs but it will be easier for you to refer back to and adjust as needed in the months or years to come.

 

Have a separate area to work from home

 

The next thing to consider would be to have a dedicated working space for your home and your business. When you work from home, it can be quite difficult to differentiate between your working life and your home life. So many people create a desk area in their home that is purely for work, so that it can feel like you are walking away from it when you are not sitting there. It can also be a great way to keep everything to do with your home business in one place. If you have the space to dedicate a room or area of you home to your business, then it may make it easier come income tax filing time to take helpful business tax deductions.

 

Don’t spend your time, spend your money

 

Sometimes it can be quite difficult to work out when to spend money and outsource things and when to actually take on things yourself. The decision comes down to whether or not your time is more valuable put elsewhere, and whether the costs outweigh the cost of your time, etc. Sometimes you need to understand that it is better to invest wisely than to waste time, especially if it is something that could be handled better and more efficiently by being outsourced. Invest in yourself and your time to know when to take something on and when to hand it over.

 

Using social media and other marketing ploys

 

On the subject of social media, it is important for you to make more of your marketing aspects and sometimes you as the business owner is the one who can make your business shine. More people are inclined to accept people who show passion for what they are showcasing when it comes to smaller businesses, so if you can appeal to followers and engage with your audience you are on the right track. Facebook and Twitter are common platforms, but things like Instagram stories could help and websites like https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/ are full of tips to get you started.

 

I hope that these tips help you to create your at home business and make it shine.

 

My Second Act Retirement Jobs: What Worked, What Didn’t

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The benefits of working in retirement are many, from financial to social. I retired early at the age of 51 and planned on pursuing certain paid opportunities that I was interested in learning and doing. I was excited about the prospects of experiencing second act retirement jobs that I had passion for. A passion and excitement that was lost after decades of doing mostly the same thing with a lot of stress and legacy baggage attached to it.

I did find success in my second act efforts and can truthfully say it exceeded my expectations. There were a couple of jobs, a side hustle, and even a 4 year encore career that I enjoyed before I retired early again. Although I can look back at my second act experiences with pride and label it all a great success, there were certainly some things that worked and some things I tried to do that didn’t work as well.

My Second Act Retirement Jobs: What Worked, What Didn’t

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My Second Act Retirement Jobs Adventure

Knowing What I Wanted For My Second Act Retirement Job

I wanted to choose the right retirement job, not simply jumping back into the unfulfilling rat race. The first thing I did was identify my payable skills and experiences. I then split them between the skills that I enjoyed using and the ones I didn’t enjoy doing. On the ‘didn’t enjoy’ list I also identified those skills I wish to never do again. The idea was to target positions that were heavy on the ‘enjoy using’ side of my skills ledger. In no way did I want a second act retirement job heavily weighted toward doing things I didn’t enjoy.

Next I listed what jobs and industries I wanted to experience. I had some technical opportunities I wanted to pursue that were aligned with my first career, others were not. There were some non-technical opportunities I really wanted to experience. I also listed other desired second act attributes I was looking for, like commute limitations, avoiding the corporate world, flexibility, etc. This gave me an expanded retirement job target zone.

Then there was the early retired side of me. In my first career I was a lead engineer and I no longer wished to have the stress of a high professional position. At least not right out of the retirement gate. I wanted to look for lower level opportunities that would be less stressful.

This worked!

This was an important aspect of my successful second act adventure. I accomplished knowing what I wanted for my second act retirement job and then eagerly went after it. It set realistic goals based on the payable skills I had and enjoyed using. 

A Lower Stress Stepped Down Position

None of my second act plans revolved around making the big bucks so scoring a lower stress position was tops on my list. This turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even though there were many aspects of my technical career I still enjoyed doing, I prioritized finding a non-technical opportunity.

I carefully applied and interviewed for positions I really wanted to do. Even though I had some desired cross-over skills, the fact that I had no real documented experience in these fields held me back. I noticed a common issue during interviews. Because of my previous high technical past, the interviewers in one way or another had concerns about boredom doing nontechnical work. In their minds I was only applying for the position because I was bored or they were concerned I would soon become bored if hired. No matter how I tried to counter this issue I failed.

I shifted my strategy to pursue a lower level technical position that aligned more with my first career. I didn’t have to deal with the boredom issue but instead the overqualified kiss of retirement job death. But I countered honestly by telling them why I wanted the position and found success.

First attempts failed but strategy shift worked.

Seeking stepped down opportunities outside of my long career failed. I should have either attempted to work part-time in these fields of interest before I retired or signed up at a temp agency to work in those industries to get experience. That may have been enough proof that I had real interest in them regardless of my long career. However, after finding success with my strategy shift, I must say that my first retirement job was a fun and rewarding experience. Even though my initial desire to attempt staying out of tech failed, I have no regrets about how my second act journey played out. I stayed just short of 2 years with this first opportunity before accepting what would become my encore career.

Being Honest and Setting Boundaries

For my second act I was looking for something more rewarding. I was honest about my experience and skills. I didn’t want to fake my way into a job that I wouldn’t enjoy doing or putting myself in a position where I couldn’t meet their expectations. But I also set some boundaries. If during an interview things came up that were skills I never wanted to do again I would honestly explain my position and bow out. I feel this worked well for me.

I had no issues in my first stepped down position but I did experience push back in my encore career and even more so during what I call my short-term early retirement side hustle. The longer I worked for them, the more they pushed to expand my responsibilities into my no-fly skills zone. I was mostly successful in maintaining the boundaries set when I was hired on during my encore career stint. There was honest discussion that resulted in agreeable compromise. I retired early again and I still look back more favorably on that experience than my first long career.

My short-term side hustle experience within a different business segment of that same company was another story. I accepted the short-term gig after honestly defining the scope of my work. It was probably the best work arrangement of my life. But after a couple of months when the first phase of the project was completed, the pressure started again to push me into doing things beyond the scope of our agreement and what I found acceptable for my second act.  

I successfully maintained my boundaries but there were repercussions.

Sometimes honesty isn’t acceptable, especially when management just wants conformity and silent obedience to authority. I saw that everyone was being pushed to expand roles and responsibilities. I simply and honestly said that maybe it’s best we call this good and part ways. Management doesn’t always seem to like that kind of honest conversation. The situation resulted in my staying on for the last 4 months of the agreed upon contract but there was obvious hostility from my manager. I can’t call this short-term side hustle a second act retirement job win. If ever in this kind of situation again I would now just resign and happily return to retirement.

Being A Competent Overachiever In A Stepped Down Retirement Job

For my first retirement job I wanted a less stressful lower responsibility opportunity. Having been an engineer and becoming a technician in a similar field was exactly that. I was doing very well in the position and I found myself applying some of my previous self, like documenting training for new techs that went beyond my role. It was appreciated and I had a very good relationship with my coworkers and manager. That was the upside. But I did experience something I hadn’t planned for.

An opportunity to move into a different job within the company became open that I really wanted. It was a slight promotion but still within my stepped down lower stress retirement job parameters. My manager was for it and the hiring manager was ready to offer me the position. But my director had different ideas. Two things were on his mind. I was in my fifties where everyone else was 25-35 and I was basically too good to let go. He went to the VP and the offer was killed. My background and early retirement status was well-known. I was seen as a flight risk. Better to continue using me where I am already productive for as long as they can. 

I felt the sting because I forgot how business works.

I somehow let myself fall into a youthful exuberance of being in a company I liked, doing something I had passion for. All said, the director was absolutely right. I had no real intentions of staying for a long time.

It wasn’t a major setback in how I grade this second act experience. But I felt a mental sting and call this a great lesson in handling stepped down retirement jobs. My lack of life drama made me dependable. I was reliable and capable. My lesson learned- Being good at your retirement job can’t counter the realities of how management thinks. At the same time understand and remember my goals. If I really want to make a long commitment then communicate that. Voluntarily go above and beyond but don’t lose sight of my defined second act employment parameters. I have to remember that as a retiree willing to take on retirement jobs that I will always be a flight risk. Throttle expectations to that truth.

Financial Blessings

I was prepared to live off of my portfolio when I retired early, but I always planned on living a retire early and often lifestyle. This allowed me to have the courage to retire with less than a million dollar portfolio. I enjoyed second act retirement jobs for just short of 6 years and earned a little over $350,000. It’s amazing how different work can be when you do something you enjoy learning and doing. I accepted opportunities that I had interest and passion for and was paid for doing so.

This is a total win!

Money wasn’t my primary motivation to pursue the opportunities I took on. But I knew that earning even a little money in retirement makes a huge difference in portfolio longevity.

 

I always say that retirement should be redefined as the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working. I went into retirement with that definition and my experience was better than expected. Some things I did worked, others didn’t or at least only partially worked.

From education to careers, so much of our life’s employment decisions are career minded and money centric. My second acts were more about working in areas of interest, passions, and doing it on my terms. Nothing much that we do goes off without a hitch. However, by having goals we tilt the odds in our favor.